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Easy Activism: Invite a teen to shadow your co-worker
My work schedule these days hasn't given me much freedom to do my usual youth activism. As a workaround, I've been setting up my co-workers with opportunities to both speak at public schools and for individual mentorship. Even if I don't have time to do something (right now -- this is changing in Feb!), it's ridiculously easy to still make a difference. Check out these two smiling faces below:
They belong to Daniel Russo, production designer at "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," and Yoachily Urena, a student and aspiring artist at The Bronx Academy of Letters. Earlier this week, I worked out a day with Danny to have Yoachily shadow him on the job so she could gain a better understanding of what it means to create graphics for a live news and commentary show.
Yoachily had a great time getting to know the graphics team members, watching Danny create the elements needed for the show and learning about the tools he uses. They exchanged information and now she has an experienced designer in her budding network of future colleagues (and possibly co-workers, who knows?). Yes, it was that easy. Granted, there are some things you should keep in mind before introducing a teen to your co-worker. I've outlined some notes below and hopefully they will inspire you to take a few minutes to set up something like this at your job."I don't have time to have a teen shadow me all day, he/she will get in the way."The teen doesn't need to shadow your co-worker the entire day. It may even be more practical for the teen to visit for only a few hours during a specific part of your co-worker's day. Find out what that could be and work out the times.
"I'm not comfortable with kids."Understandable, but a comment based in fear/nerves. Assure your co-worker that this teen is there to learn, not to judge your colleague. Emphasize the positive qualities of the interaction.
"I wouldn't know what to show them."Have them imagine a skill or skills related to their job they wish they knew earlier in their career, and then determine the best way to share this info with the teen during the shadowing session.
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